Apex Legends receives a big mid-season update in Season 26. The Wild Iron event adds new weapons, balance changes, and performance fixes. The patch goes live on September 16, 2025, and runs until September 30. Players get a Mythic Flatline with explosive powers, eight new Wild Cards, and more high-level loot. Respawn focuses on smoother gameplay as well. Let’s take a closer look at the Apex Legends Season 26 midseason update and what to expect!

Wild Iron event and theme

Respawn Entertainment has been busy in the past few weeks as the company first disabled accolades and then released a new anticheat update. The Wild Iron event is the center of the Season 26 midseason update. The theme sets technology against nature and pushes players to choose their side. Matches feature higher spawn rates for explosive gear and new crafting options in Replicators.

Players can collect Cores from daily challenges and spend them in the Reward Shop for event items and badges. The shop changes its offerings halfway through the event. 

Wild Iron packs include one event item and two standard items without duplicates, giving a fair chance to unlock cosmetics like Legendary skins for Lifeline, Pathfinder, and Vantage.

The event rewards players who explore and complete challenges. It also keeps matches exciting with unpredictable fights and strong gear drops. Check out the announcement video below:

Mythic Flatline and explosive Wild Cards

The Mythic Flatline is the highlight of this update. It drops from Rampart Care Packages and comes with two unique powers. Every fifth bullet deals double damage and creates an area-of-effect blast. Knocked enemies turn into time bombs until revived or detonated.

Explosive gameplay grows with more EPG-1 grenade launchers and a higher spawn rate for Bocek bows. These items add chaos and force teams to plan their moves carefully.

Eight new Wild Cards change how players fight. Here is a detailed look at the new Wild Cards:

• Crackerjack: instantly reload weapon on knock
• Down Bad: enemies explode when knocked
• Extra Ordnance: player gains ability to carry +1 ordnance
• Good Doctor: revive squadmates with additional shields
• Gren-Aid: mark enemies damaged by your explosives
• Sent Packing: frag grenade knockback is increased
• Shield’s Up: gain Epic level shield
• Stowed Reload: stowed weapon auto-reloads after several seconds

Big Legend buffs and nerfs

Several Legends receive important updates to keep matches fair and fresh.

Mad Maggie now attacks faster. Riot Drill fires quicker, and Wrecking Ball throws faster and deals more damage. Speed pads last 20 seconds and give a fortified buff for stronger pushes. Her upgrades now support more close-range weapon use.

Seer gains stronger scanning power. His passive and tactical reach 75 meters, and tactical cooldown drops to 20 seconds. Scans last longer and give a speed boost. Ultimate range grows to about 50 meters and adds clearer visuals. New upgrades such as Lasting Beats and Home Base improve shield recovery and tactical recharge.

Ash faces reductions in mobility. Dash cooldown rises to 12 seconds. Arc Snare lasts six seconds, breaks easier, and no longer deals extra shield damage. Some upgrades are removed and replaced to lower her impact.

Caustic’s gas ramps damage more slowly and no longer causes aim punch. This makes fights against him less punishing.

Sparrow’s tracking time falls to 12 seconds. Stinger Bolt health drops to 400 and slows both allies and enemies. Visual changes help players read his abilities more easily.

Weapon and attachment changes

Weapons and attachments receive balance updates to keep matches fair.

Bocek Compound Bow

• Faster charge time at 0.35 seconds (down from 0.45).
• Tighter hipfire spread for improved close-range accuracy.

Wingman

• Base damage increased to 50 (up from 48).
• Skull Piercer headshot multiplier slightly lowered, keeping total headshot damage the same.

Devotion LMG

• Loses a perk that previously gave turbocharge with high-tier attachments.

Locked Hop-Ups

• Higher point requirements for key upgrades:
• Skull Piercer now 600 points (up from 400).
• Turbocharger now 600 points.
• Accelerator and Graffiti Mod costs increased.
• Gold Magazine stowed reload time raised to 4 seconds (up from 2).

Gameplay impact

• Slows early-game weapon power spikes.
• Keeps weapon strength balanced for mid and late-game fights.

Ranked mode and map updates

Ranked mode now measures skill more directly. Entry costs no longer affect Ranked Ladder scoring. Match performance, including kills and placement, fully decides rank points. This makes the ladder fairer for all players.

Map rotations bring variety. Ranked and Unranked modes rotate through E-District, Kings Canyon, and Olympus. Mixtape playlists get new maps for TDM, Control, and Gun Run. Duos mode changes include fewer squads and players, a partly closed first ring, and a drop ship that starts at the edge of the ring for faster action.

Other key fixes and quality-of-life improvements

Respawn improves stability and quality of life across the game. Steam Datagram Relay now protects Diamond and Masters matches, cutting DoS attacks by about 90 percent. Tests in Asia and Australia show strong results, and the team plans wider rollout.

Engine updates reduce shader counts by almost half and switch to bindless resources for particle effects. These changes lower CPU use and improve performance during heavy combat. A crash linked to unknown display drivers on PC is fixed.

The in-game shop introduces a “For You” section featuring weekly personalized offers. Notifications for Wildcard respawn and teammate deaths are smaller and less disruptive. The death banner now says “Last Legend Standing” for clearer messaging. EVO Harvesters spawn more often, and ring exploit fixes keep matches fair.